I have a hefty collection of 720p/1080p content that I've ripped into mkv containers. Obviously these will not play on the new Apple TV. Is anyone else in this situation? I bought a new Apple TV just to play around with it, the Netflix integration is top notch and Airplay seems awesome. Does it seem like a good idea to start converting all of my content to 720p (able to be played on iPhone 4/iPad as well) and starting to stream that onto the Apple TV?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple TV (New) to replace Unibody Mac Mini w/ Plex?
- Thread starter redrox5
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I would hold off on that front for the time being, for a couple reasons. First, in November AirPlay will go live with audio and video streaming. This will allow for streaming video from say Plex, Klexi, AirVideo, or VLC to the 
TV. This isn't the most elegant solution, as you'll have to have your mini on to stream the transcoded picture to your iDevice, which in turn will stream to the TV. In the short turn, however, it'll work.
In the long run, jailbreaking is key. The device was officially jailbroken yesterday, and it won't be long until someone produces an app that will take the middlemen (iPhone/iPad) out of the equation, allowing us to stream anything directly to theTV. And since the device is actually capable of decoding 1080p (there are other discussions going on about this), your mini may not even have to live-transcode the media.
TV. This isn't the most elegant solution, as you'll have to have your mini on to stream the transcoded picture to your iDevice, which in turn will stream to the TV. In the short turn, however, it'll work. In the long run, jailbreaking is key. The device was officially jailbroken yesterday, and it won't be long until someone produces an app that will take the middlemen (iPhone/iPad) out of the equation, allowing us to stream anything directly to the
TV. And since the device is actually capable of decoding 1080p (there are other discussions going on about this), your mini may not even have to live-transcode the media.My thing is I'm going to want my content to be available on the iPhone and iPad as well and since they handle 720p too you might as well just do one encoding to 720p and be done with it. Use your MKV files as an archive and backup and just put the discs away somewhere.
That's the beauty of the A4 being shared among the Apple TV and all the other iOS devices. You encode to 720p once and you know it will play anywhere. But like OmegaRed1723 said, when Airplay for video comes in November, you should be able to watch your MKVs without encoding at all with apps like Air Video and jailbreaking could put those kinds of apps directly on the Apple TV.
That's the beauty of the A4 being shared among the Apple TV and all the other iOS devices. You encode to 720p once and you know it will play anywhere. But like OmegaRed1723 said, when Airplay for video comes in November, you should be able to watch your MKVs without encoding at all with apps like Air Video and jailbreaking could put those kinds of apps directly on the Apple TV.